Chris Martin plays secret gig at Yorkshire pub before Coldplay’s Hull stadium shows
Martin turned up unannounced to The Puzzle Hall Inn in Sotherby Bridge last night (August 14).
By Nick Reilly
Coldplay‘s Chris Martin surprised fans in Yorkshire last night by turning up unannounced to a pub and playing an hour-long show for punters.
The singer thrilled fans at The Puzzle Hall Inn in Sotherby Bridge last night (August 14) by running through the band’s hits, just days before they play two shows at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium next week.
“Normally I have a crew of 250 people,” he said opening the show, before ribbing a fan in the crowd who heckled him: “The last time I got booed was in Romania by 60,000 people… so you’re nothing.”
Martin treated fans to Coldplay hits such as ‘Viva La Vida’ and ‘Yellow’, but also delivered his own take on songs such as Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’.
As the Halifax Courier reports, he had to adlib part of the latter song and joked: Verse two and I don’t know the words so I sing this song for you. And if you don’t like me that much then you’re allowed to boo.”
Before he ended the gig, he said: “I want to sincerely say thank you so much letting me play in your garden and on Monday in Hull I’ll be thinking of you all and how kind you’ve been to a southerner. I’m very grateful.”
Check out footage of the show below.
Martin also confirmed that the show would act as a rehearsal of sorts for the Yorkshire shows, which come ahead of ten dates at Wembley Stadium across the end of this month and the start of September.
It was confirmed last year that 10 per cent of the proceeds from all of the gigs will go to the Music Venue Trust, helping to support UK grassroots venues.
Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, said: “Coldplay are the perfect example of a UK band who came through the grassroots circuit on their way to worldwide stadium-filling success. It’s fantastic to see them celebrating their own pathway to Wembley by giving back to the grassroots music venues that supported them and recognising the artists and promoters that are struggling more than ever to build their own careers.
“Through our partnership with Save Our Scene – who introduced us to Coldplay last year – this money will go directly into work that ensures communities right across the country will continue to have access to great live music on their doorstep. The band’s support really will stop venues closing, make tours happen and bring the joy of live music to thousands of people. After months of discussing Coldplay’s potential support around these UK shows with them, we’re so happy and grateful that the news is finally out there!”
More recently, the band’s shows in Massachusetts last month were struck by notoriety when a kiss cam captured a CEO who was seemingly cheating with a HR executive.
Kristin Cabot resigned from tech firm Astronomer less than a week after Andy Byron, the company’s CEO, resigned from his post after being caught embracing Cabot on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium. The organisation released a lengthier statement following his departure.
At the first Coldplay show since the infidelity incident, Martin reminded the audience that being in the crowd meant they could be filmed. “We’d like to say hello to some of you in the crowd,” Martin told the audience at Camp Randall Stadium in Wisconsin. “How we’re gonna do that is we’re gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. So please, if you haven’t done your makeup, do your makeup now.”